The little girl pulled her legs close to her body. “A-Are you a faerie that’s come to take me?”
Britt smiled, holding back a grimace when she drew closer to the girl. The dirty child smelled overwhelmingly of sweat and pig. “No. I’m a…soldier,” Britt said, crouching in front of the girl. (Britt had a feeling that a king finding this poor girl would be even worse in her mind than a faerie.) “I live in the big castle that’s just past the edge of the forest.”
“Camelot!” the little girl said.
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“I’m from Camelot too,” the girl said, wiping her dirty face on her dirty sleeve.
“Really? What are you doing all the way out here? We are a fair distance from Camelot.”
“Mother sent me to the forest to pick mushrooms. I’m the only one in our family that’s good at finding them. I always pick lots.”
“She told you to come this far into the forest to pick mushrooms?” Britt asked.
The little girl blinked back tears and miserably shook her head. “No. But I saw mushrooms, lots of ‘em. So I went deeper ‘n deeper in the forest, ‘n I think a faerie bewitched me ‘cause I lost my way and I never get lost ‘n I,” the little girl didn’t finish and instead broke off into a sob.
“There, there,” Britt said, placing a gentle hand on the girl’s head. “You happen to be in great luck. As I said, we’re from Camelot. We’re running an errand right now, but we’ll be riding back home after that. Would you like to come with us?”
The little girl hesitated. “Do you swear by the cross you’re from Camelot?”
“I do,” Britt said.
“Say it.”
Britt raised her hand and solemnly said, “I swear by the cross that my companions and I are from Camelot, and we will have you home by supper.”
The little girl flung herself at Britt, almost knocking her backwards.
Britt coughed at the force with which the girl hit her, and the little girl’s odor. Maybe she could dunk her in Nymue’s lake before riding back to Camelot.
Britt stood, carrying the girl—who meekly said, “My mushrooms.”
“Right, we mustn’t forget the mushrooms. I’ll have one of my men place them in a pack so they safely make the journey,” Britt said, carefully stooping over to pick up the basket as the girl clung to her like a leech.
Britt passed the mushrooms off to the captain of the guards and idly eyed her protectors. “I don’t suppose one of you would be willing to break off and take this girl home right now?”
“Not for your life, Milord.”
“That’s what I thought,” Britt grumbled, turning to Roen. As Britt slid the little girl on Roen’s back she noticed three knights in full armor riding war steeds further in the trees.
Britt pointed to the girl and shouted to the knights, “Is she yours?”
Two of the knights ignored the shout and rode off into the forest. The remaining knight—who was dressed in blue and white—shook his head.
Britt mounted up behind the girl, blinking at the girl’s sour scent. “Are you in need of assistance?” Britt asked the knight.
“You are Arthur,” the knight said, his voice muffled by his helm.
“Yes,” Britt said to the horror of her guards—who immediately spread around Britt in a defensive pattern.
“You mean to return her to her home?” the knight asked.
Britt tilted her head, “Yes.”
“Why not have your men care for her?”
Britt wryly looked to her guards. “I don’t think they would,” she dryly said. “Any more questions?”
The knight shook his head. “You are a just man, My Lord,” he said before riding off into the forest.
“That was odd. Right, who can lead the way back to the road?” Britt asked, turning to her guards.
The rest of the ride to Nymue’s lake was uneventful. The forest was peaceful, and the lake was just as Britt remembered it. There was a boat near the beach Britt and her men arrived at, there was still a mother and baby deer eating lush grass near the shoreline, and the lake was clear and untouched.
“Nymue has a good eye for real estate,” Britt said, dismounting Roen before lifting the little girl off the horse’s back. “Stay close to my men,” Britt told her, pointing to her guards. “I’m going to speak to someone. I will most likely be back right away.”
The little girl bobbed in a wobbly curtsy—apparently having picked up on the titles Britt’s men and the knight used to address her.
Britt smiled at the girl before she walked to the edge of the lake. “Nymue will be here shortly. I need to speak with her alone. Remain at this beach and I will stay within eye sight,” Britt said when the guard captain joined her.
“Yes, Milord.”
Britt smiled and slapped the man on his back before she turned towards the deer.